Ian Wright has praised the summer acquisition of Ezri Konsa to Arsenal following their 2-1 victory against Chelsea. The former striker sees the defender as a potential key player for Mikel Arteta's side, particularly given William Saliba's injury situation.
Konsa made the switch from Aston Villa for a fee of £55 million and played the full 90 minutes against Chelsea for the first time. Arsenal faced an early setback, conceding a goal to Morgan Rogers within two minutes, but they responded through strikes from Kai Havertz and Martin Odegaard.
Speaking on Sky Sports, Wright remarked:
Mikel Arteta has always stated he doesn't want a large disparity between the first team and the bench.
Of course, you can feel the loss considering what William Saliba brought to Arsenal, but I view Ezri Konsa as a fantastic signing.
Look at his ability, experience, and versatility. With Saliba's injury, we needed a player like that. Given his age and experience, it's a brilliant transfer.
A standout moment for Konsa in the match was a hard yet clean tackle against his former Aston Villa teammate Morgan Rogers. After the game, Arteta highlighted this incident along with the defender's overall performance:
That was a very English tackle, the crowd responded immediately — sometimes you love that even more than a goal! Ezri had only played 11 minutes before this, with five or six training sessions under his belt, yet the way he held his own against a player like Joao Pedro was phenomenal.
Konsa himself expressed how quickly he settled into the new team and how much he enjoys the physical battles:
I love duels. For a defender, that's what you have to enjoy. Morgan is a good friend of mine, but on the pitch, it's a different story. I saw the opportunity to tackle, and it worked out.
I felt at home from day one. The lads and the staff have welcomed me brilliantly. This style really suits me; I enjoy the way the manager plays. When you have so many quality players around, it makes things easier.
With three matches played, Arsenal maintain a perfect record in the Premier League.
